Hello All, I am new to this topic. I never thought I would get into DVRing but here I am.
Currently:
I have an attic antenna that provides OTA channels to all TVs in my house for Live TV viewing.
Plex Server (Docker) on Ubuntu Server 18.04 on AMD 5350. At this point, we are only watching 1 stream at anytime. Sometimes transcoding is quite tough on this server. At this point, PMS is only used for content stored on my server. No live TV or DVR.
Gigabit network + Ubiquity Wifi AC
I am planning to keep live OTA viewing as is though the antenna, unless someone has a very good reason to recommend Plex for this.
I am looking for a setup to record certain live shows and make them available on Plex and/or Kodi.
I am thinking about getting a SiliconDust HDRomeHun. Here are the questions:
For my situation, which one would you recommend: Connect Duo or Connect Extend? - considering at this point I do not plan on using Plex for Live TV. Just for watching pre-recorded shows (rarely) and that my current server can barely do one transcoding.
Can I make HDHomeRun work with TVHeadend and make the recordings available on Plex for watching (no Live TV is fine). If my need was only for DVR for watching later, would this setup be better than Plex DVR?
I have 2 HDHomeRun boxes connected to my Plex server and use Plex to record/capture shows and movies and it works great thru Plex dvr functionality. Not sure what TVHeadend is but you may not need it if you plan on watching tv from plex side or recordings that plex did using your SDHDHR box. You can watch live tv directly from OTA or SDHDR box using their app or you could use PLEX to do exactly the same things and record/import into plex directly without having to deal with SDI interface at all.
Now for Commercial editing, PLEX has this but i haven’t used it much I use VideoRedoSuite which I assume is similar to MCEBuddy from what I know about that app so you may want to look at plexs commercial functionality and see if that works for you vs getting another app to edit commercials.
I recommend the EXTEND for best compatibility across devices and to alleviate server load. If you’re already having transcoding issues, then getting the CONNECT is just be setting yourself up for failure.
I second @darcilicious advice posted above… Get the Extend model for OTA signals… It has hardware transcoding built in… Depending on your client device, your server shouldn’t have to transcode anything you record…
If your server is already struggling, then I would probably going to the “Extend” line of HD Homeruns. The big advantage there is they have built in h.264 transcoding so they will convert the MPEG-2 live feed for you vs. putting that load on your ubuntu box.
You can use them with either the TVHeadEnd or Plex, although I would probably just use them with Plex as the Extend is doing the heavy lift and it really is just a disk write load then during recording.
If you use Plex, it will handle the naming and you can have it strip the commercials for you. That would be my recommendation. Keep simple and clean. Get HD Homerun Extend, check a box, done.
If you go TVHeadend, than MCEBuddy might be helpful for stripping commercials, file renaming, etc. But you are also adding another device into the mix since it runs on Windows and another step in the process (added complexity).
I would suggest looking at SiliconDust Shop for their Refurbished Hardware I bought the Extend from them refurbed and for Xmas just added a Quatro to my server to make 6 tuners (my family loves having the OTA for live tv). I figured if they (SiliconDust) are doing the refurbs it’s as good as new IMO. $98.88 vs $179.99 on Amazon. Haven’t had any issues at all with either.
In our experience, the tuner chipset on the Duo and Quatro is better than the older Extends, and is a much better value for the money. The Extend transcoder cannot deinterlace, so additional transcoding is often required depending on your client.
If you use the Channels app, no transcoding is required at all as the app can play the hdhomerun streams directly.
Transcode Profiles:
• heavy: transcode to AVC with the same resolution, frame-rate, and interlacing as the
original stream. For example 1080i60 AVC 1080i60, 720p60 AVC 720p60. → →
• mobile: trancode to AVC progressive not exceeding 1280x720 30fps.
The mobile setting’s “deinterlacing” algorithm consists of dropping every other frame, so you end up with 540p@30fps. Might be fine for live tv on tiny mobile screens, but it’s not great for recordings.
If the Plex Server isn’t powerful enough to transcode for the target client then the Duo and Quatro are actually a waste of money. In reading the original post I stand by recommendation of the Extend.
